Vertigo Games On How Skyworld Is A New Type Of VR Strategy Game

Invite somebody you know and take them down a peg.

In 2015 Vertigo Games announced that they’d be working on a Steam VR title Skyworld. VRFocus managed to get hands on with Skyworld and speak to VR videogame designer Paul van der Meer of Vertigo Games.

Designed for virtual reality (VR), Skyworld is a turn-based strategy videogame revolving around a circular table where you take command of your general and troops to take over regions in order to ultimately defeat your opponent. With a dragon on top of a castle at the centre, the table flips over to reveal different locations when it is your turn. This was done to help separate large pieces of information into manageable chunks. Rather than seeing a continuous volume of statistics for your units whilst playing, the player can see this information on their units in different locations when the table flips. These areas consist of a laboratory, where the player can research new units in the form of a deck of cards; another where you can upgrade your units and finally a location where you can check up on your finances – after all, waging war is never cheap.

Vertigo Games found it important to make the videogame accessible for players who had never tried VR before. According to Van der Meer, so far players who have tried Skyworld got the hang of things very quickly and he believes that the genre of strategy games available for VR is sparse, and as this is turn-based you can take your time playing it however you are most comfortable.

Skyworld will be released in autumn this year for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Microsoft Mixed Reality headsets. You can play against A.I., and against a friend if they own any of the previous mentioned headsets. The match will be a little over an hour and Van der Meer believes it’s videogame one would prefer to play with a friend rather than a stranger. You can see and hear your opponent when playing and this can make for a great social experience. Vertigo Games might be working on making more units available, but for now they’re focused on the release.

VRFocus will keep you updated on the latest with Skyworld, to find out more watch the interview below.

Nina Salomons is a filmmaker who has worked on various media formats from online to broadcast. Some of the films she's worked on have gone on to film festivals and winning awards.

With a history of creating online videogame content, Nina has now made a move to VR. Keen to bring diversity into Immersive technology, she heads up the VR Diversity Initiative. Looking at the intersection of film and gaming, she is currently working on creating original VR interactive content.